Next To You
by srwkwrite
Summary: Alfred's the popular kid in their school. Alice was his neighbour and best friend since they were young. Naturally, he'd be protective of her and the sight he saw before him made him guilty. Oneshot, human AU. Posted on tumblr. Trigger Warning: Bullying, Depression


((A/N: I'm sorry if the story's triggering or it just wrong. As in, I'm being disrespectful to people who really experience depression))

He was running. Not for some stupid race. He has a goal. But it isn't a goal. More to that of preventing something he didn't want to happen.

Alfred was panting and sweating. He yelled and yelled. He banged on doors of the rooms he passed by. Yet, nobody was in the rooms he checked. He screamed and searched, but to no avail, he didn't found what he looked for.

He hated that this always happens. He hated that she was blamed by 'others'. He hated that he was the cause of all this. He hated that she was the victim. He hated that his 'admirers' hurt her, in so many ways he couldn't imagine. It was all his fault.

And yet, she was the victim.

"Alice?!" his Californian accent thickened every time he called her name. No response. He grew worried. Alfred had failed . But he didn't stop. There was nobody else on the school grounds except himself, the guard and the girl he looked for.

His dear childhood best friend , of which he liked but never admitted. The girl he constantly teased for fun and yet fond of. The girl he knew longer than any other friends he has. The girl who sneaked into his room every night to play video games when their curfew has come. The girl who lived next door, and incidentally, whose bedroom balcony was just 4 feet away. The girl that he liked and admired. The girl he saw everyday and never get bored of.

There was only one place that Alfred didn't look at yet. The girl's restroom. Their school had only two restrooms, one for the boys, one for the girls. It was pretty stupid to have a design like that and it was inconvenient.

He put his gentleman priority aside and along with his dignity, he went inside the girls' restroom. He had never been in there before, considering he was male, of course. There were no sounds, but it was obvious that there were at least a dozen people in the restroom an hour before he did. He grew more worried.

'Fucking admirers and their stupid bullshit', he merely thought to himself. As if filling his lockers full with confession and love letters weren't enough, his 'fangirls' taunted his best friend. Unlike most boys, his best friend was Alice, a girl of a year younger but skipped a grade. Sure, Francis was his friend too, but he met him in middle school and the French already has his own best friends ( not to mention a group of girls constantly stalking him) .

Alice was an outcast. She has a rather weak body and constantly fell ill, resulting in her parents and brothers being overprotective of her. She was smarter than Alfred, as well, and if she kept it up, she could go to some top-notch university for geniuses.

Alfred crouched, sighing and cursing under his breath for letting her out of his sight. He failed her parents who trusted her with him. He failed his own for the same reason. He failed her brothers. He failed himself. And mostly, he failed her.

At some point, Alfred heard a girl's sob. He smiled faintly. Of relief. But he couldn't stop worrying. Wary of the girl's insecurity and constant anxiety attack.

"Alice? Which cubicle are you in?" no answer. Just a girl crying. But he knows, it's Alice's cries. He walked slowly, step after step without making a sound. He walked to the direction of the voice and eventually found himself in front of a locked cubicle door.

"Alice, open up, please" he shouldn't cry. He mustn't . "Alice, please" he voice cracked. "Please, leave, Al" Alice mumbled, her words separated by her sobs. "Unlock it, please" he said, softly, gently, almost like an angel's whisper.

He heard no clicking sound. He decided to struggle the door open. "Alice, open it up , or I'm going to break this door!" he didn't mean to sound harsh, it was just the way it was.

"Leave" he knew, that she didn't want him to leave, she just wanted some time alone. But if he let her, she'd do something stupid. He struggled and struggled until the door's hinges were loose and kicked the door. It just burst open.

_Oh Dear Lord, what have I done?_ He thought to himself. _No, I didn't want this to happen,_ he mumbled in his thoughts.

Before him , was a sight he never thought he has to see. He knew, that Alice had major depression due to bullying, that she cuts herself occasionally when things went bad. And he was always there when she needed someone but didn't want to go outside her bedroom.

Before him, was a sight that made him guilty. There was blood on the floor, mixed with pipe water. Alice's cuts on her wrists up to her forearm were deep , red and sore. Her face was blue and bruised, along with her legs and hands. Her uniform was dirty and torn and she was crying.

_It's all my fault, _was what Alfred could think of. _Those bitches did it bad, they're going to pay,_ was what his heart told him._ Stupid, fucking, good-for-nothing useless bitches ,_he clenched his fists.

But there was nothing else his instincts told him to do except washing the girl's cuts and shielding her with his bomber jacket. He carried her on his back, to the nurses' office and dressed her cuts and treated her wounds.

The bleeding stopped and her sobs were softer and quieter. Alfred could only stare in guilt. "I'm sorry this happened .It's all my damn fault" he repeatedly said. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" was a mantra for him . "It's all my fucking fault this happened" the words echoed. _Fucking jealous sluts,_ there were no other words that could explain his anger.

"It's okay, Al" Alice muttered, looking at him straight in the eyes. "You didn't mean to, they're just…overprotective of you, it's alright" Alice stuttered a bit. The American stood up almost immediately and grab both of her shoulders, but with care as he was afraid to hurt her more. "You always say it's alright! It's okay! No you're not! No it isn't ! Don't you see? It's all my fault you had to put up with this since years ago and I didn't do anything to help you" now it was his turn to cry.

His head shot upwards, with a determined face and a thought racing through his mind. "Alice, I thought of something so will you promise me about it?" he asked, softly, gently and lovingly. She nodded, slightly.

He rolled her sleeves, revealing her dressed cuts. There were already blood seeping through it but he didn't care. "Next time, if you cut, then cut my arms as many times as you would cut yourself" he kissed her forehead and smiled . "You mean the world to me, you know that right?" he put his face closer to her cuts, "And I'd do anything to make you happy" without hesitation, he began to kiss her cuts much to Alice's surprise.

"So we'll do everything and anything together, is that okay with you? Promise me?" he looked at her again, this time, with eyes which held the meaning of 'I love you and I'll protect you'.

It was a secret between them. She nodded. And cried. And cried. Alfred held her close, massaging her back in circles, telling her words of his love. Telling her their childhood stories and how often she beat him in video games he's supposed to be good at. Singing her songs that he heard her play on the laptop every night, to which, she sang along. Feeling her silky, strawberry blonde hair with his fingers which once , strummed the strings of an acoustic guitar. And lastly, carrying her on his back as she fell asleep with a smile on her face.


End file.
